Democrats Move to Blunt Court Campaign Ruling

Democrats are moving on several fronts to blunt the effect of the Supreme Court's recent ruling that allows corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on political advertising, according to USA Today.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have come up with several self-described legislative fixes for what they believe is a ruling that gives corporations too much power to support political campaigns.

The fear among Democrats is that most of that support will go to Republicans, who favor lower taxes and fewer regulations on business growth.

Schumer said the lawmakers, who are working closely with the White House and Democratic leaders, plan to introduce a bill in the coming weeks that would require new disclosure rules on corporate spending and CEO disclaimers in political ads, along with limits on foreign involvement in political advertising, USA Today reported. They said they want the measures in place quickly to curb unrestricted corporate spending in November's midterm congressional elections.

"Today, we're beginning to pick up the pieces of campaign-finance" laws "shattered" by the high court's ruling, Schumer told reporters.

But groups supporting a bill that would publicly finance congressional elections said the proposal doesn't go far enough.

"These are good first steps but as a package they fall short of getting to the heart of the problem of money in politics," Nick Nyhart, president and CEO of Public Campaign told USA Today.. "At the end of the day, these proposals still leave members of Congress dependent on money from Wall Street interests, insurance companies, and the other deep pocket interests who control Washington, D.C."

Democrats are moving on several fronts to blunt the effect of the Supreme Court's recent rulingthat allowscorporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on politicaladvertising, according to USA Today.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Chris Van Hollen,...